Mark Few After An Upset Against Tennessee: “It Was Heck Of A Basketball Game”

The No.1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs were stunned by Tennessee Volunteers earlier today after a fantastic battle in Phoenix. One of the dark horses for the Final Four place won 76-73, with Admiral Schofield playing probably one of the best games in his career.

Three weeks ago, the Volunteers had the second-seeded Jayhawks in their hands, but missed one excellent opportunity to make a big noise and make a breakthrough into the AP Poll. Kansas managed to avoid a defeat after the overtimes, handing the Volunteers their only loss of the season.

This time, Tennessee was in a different role. Now, they were the ones who defeated the unbeatable team.

“We knew it would have a March kind of feel to it,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, “When you play against a No. 1 team, you’re going to play 40 minutes and we probably did that better today that we had any other game this season.”

🎥 H I G H L I G H T S 🎥 pic.twitter.com/hMMgWuXS5s

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) December 10, 2018

For the first time in his career, he defeated the No.1 seed.

The contest itself was worthy of a national championship game. Both sides were changing the leads, we’ve seen exciting matchups, trash talks, a dramatic ending, all the things which make basketball great.

And it had a hero. His name Admiral Schofield. The 6-6 guard from Zion, Illinois, hit 6 three-pointers in this match, dropping 30 points on Gonzaga’s tough defense.

In the decisive moments, Schofield stepped up and kept his cool. During the middle of the second half, Zach Norvell Jr went on a shooting rampage, hitting three consecutive downtown bombs, pushing his team to an 8-point lead and initiating some trash talk.

His target was none other than Schofield. What happened after that will stay in Norvell’s memory for a long time.

“Honestly, I love when people talk to me,” Schofield said. “You give me motivation, I’m coming.”

Volunteers’ senior guard scored last 11 points for his team, among them two 3-pointers, which decided this match. With 26.4 seconds to go. Schofield’s hit set up the final result, 76-73.

When the game was on the line, Tennessee’s leading star and the SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams had to sit on the bench because he fouled out. That makes Schofield’s achievement even bigger.

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Up until the point where he had to go out, Williams had a tremendous match, being shy of a triple-double for just three assists, as he posted 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Though having only three players with 10+ points, Volunteers got this one with a team play. On the defensive side of the floor. All the players were giving their best against one of the most versatile attacks in the country. Tennessee forced many tough shots, and one-on-one plays, decreasing the Bulldogs to only 14 assists throughout the entire game.

Gonzaga’s coach Mark Few praised Volunteer’s defense, and the game itself.

“That’s easily the most physical team we’ve played so far. We did fairly well.” adding that the game was superb, “It was heck of a basketball game. We just ended up on the short end. They made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

Brandon Clark dominated in both paints, as he scored 21 points with 9 rebounds and two blocks, one of them spectacular. He set the crowd on fire after Yves Pons tried to dunk over him. Clark hammered him and the basketball far away from the rim.

Rui Hachimura added 21 and 8 boards, while Zach Norvell and Corey Kispert had 13 apiece.

The No.1 seed heads for North Carolina to play versus the No.14 Tar Heels this Saturday. Volunteers are going to play on the road against Memphis.